Survey

Further evidence has emerged that Hollywood has made little progress in hiring women and minorities to work on prime-time television shows. A survey conducted by the Directors Guild of America of more than 2,600 television episodes from 170 scripted TV series for the 2010-11 season found that white males directed 77% of all episodes, and white females directed 11% of all episodes. Minority males directed 11% all episodes and minority females directed just 1% of the shows, according to the DGA survey.

Cable television has become the top source of news about the presidential campaign, while fewer Americans turn to their local TV stations and the networks, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. While public attention to cable news has remained steady over the last four presidential cycles, the attention to other television outlets and to newspapers for election information has declined. Perhaps most surprisingly, the Pew survey found that the percentage of those saying they use the Internet to access campaign news has stayed about the same as it was four years ago. The percentage of the audience who say they regularly get information on the 2012 race was 36% from cable news, 32% from local TV, 26% from network TV, 25% from the Internet and 20% from newspapers.

America's nonprofit theaters are feeling a bit better about their finances these days, according to a recent survey conducted by the sector's main national service organization, Theatre Communications Group. But the actors, directors and designers who work in those theaters shouldn't bank on a trickle-down effect boosting their standard of living. Asked to list their top five priorities for the coming year, only 19% of the 206 theaters surveyed by TCG and its partner, the Assn.

In one episode of the sitcom “Seinfeld,” George Costanza tries to impress his girlfriend by joining a book club. The first book he has to read is “Breakfast at Tiffany's,” by Truman Capote. For George, the novella is a slog: “If it's not about sports, I find it very hard to concentrate,” he says. So he watches the movie adaptation of the novel instead. Most people, in turns out, have done something like that to try to look smarter than they really are, according to a new British survey of 2,000 people.

This year's college freshmen report feeling higher levels of emotional and financial stress than their predecessors did, according to a national survey conducted by UCLA researchers. The annual "American Freshman" report, released Thursday, showed that only about half of current first-year students, 51.9%, rated their emotional health above average or higher, down from 55.3% last year and the lowest since the question was first asked 25 years ago. Just 45.9% of women in the class described themselves as emotionally strong, compared with 59.1% of the men. In addition, nearly two-thirds of this year's freshmen, 62.1%, said the recession had affected their choice of college, and 73.4%, up from 70% last year, are depending on grants and scholarships to help them through.

NEW YORK -- Nearly half of Wall Streeters expect bigger annual bonuses this year, an industry study has found. Forty-eight percent of the 911 financial-services employees surveyed by EFinancialCareers believe their payouts will be higher than last year, the survey found. That's an increase from last year, when the survey found 41% believing their bonuses would jump. “The mood is better, some people will be happier, but we still have another quarter to go,” Constance Melrose, a managing director for EFinancialCareers, told Bloomberg News.

USC President C. L. Max Nikias was the 13th-highest compensated private university president in 2011, making nearly $1.4 million in total pay, while former UC President Mark G. Yudof was the eighth-best paid public education executive, according to an annual survey released Sunday. University of Chicago President Robert J. Zimmer made nearly $3.3 million, ranking him first among private college or university chiefs, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, while ex-Penn State University President Graham Spanier was the highest paid public president, making $2.9 million during the 2012 fiscal year.

A survey released this week found that there were more teens and young adults who said they use Tumblr on a regular basis than those who said they use Facebook. Fifty-nine percent of respondents between the ages of 13 and 25 said they use Tumblr regularly; 54% said they use Facebook on a regular basis. Among those 13 to 18, the percentage who said they use Tumblr regularly was even higher -- 61% compared with 55% who said they use Facebook regularly. The survey was conducted by Y Combinator start-up Survata.

Tesla, the California-based electric brand behind the Model S, stormed into the top five automotive brands in a recent survey by Consumer Reports, the organization announced Wednesday. The company rounds out a group led by Toyota, Ford, Honda, and Chevrolet as the automakers that ranked highest in overall brand perception. Tesla ranked 11th in last year's survey. Rounding out the top 10 this year were Subaru, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Cadillac and BMW. The annual survey by Consumer Reports asks people about seven factors they consider when buying a car, weighing them from most important to least: quality, safety, performance, value, fuel economy, design and technology.

Americans think destination weddings are less stressful to plan and more fun than traditional ceremonies and that beaches are the ideal spots for boosting the romance factor. Those are the findings of a survey released this week along with the announcement of a new Expedia online wedding-planning service featuring Hawaii , Mexico (Cancun, Riviera Maya and Los Cabos), Jamaica or the Dominican Republic. Expedia and marketing firm Northstar surveyed 1,000 single or engaged people in what they're calling the American Altar Report.